The present invention relates to data processing systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to menu management mechanisms for user interface-based programs.
The use and the popularity of computer systems have steadily increased since around the middle of the twentieth century. This trend has been fueled by many different advances in computer system technology (e.g., the invention of random access memory in the 1950s and the introduction of the personal computer in the 1980s). One of the more recent of these advances relates to what is called a graphical user interface.
A graphical user interface, which is sometimes referred to as a xe2x80x9cGUI,xe2x80x9d is a type of computer system display format that allows computer system users to interact with a computer system by pointing to pictorial representations of programs (called icons), lists of items (called menus), and to individual representations of other computer system items such as files and commands. This invention pertains to the presentation of menus to computer system users via user interfaces such as GUIs. There are essentially two different types of menus. We use the phrase fixed content menu to describe those menus that have items that remain the same over time. We use the phrase variable content menu to describe those menus that have items that change over time.
The main problem with existing menu presentation mechanisms is that they limit user efficiency because they do not provide comprehensive heuristic control over the arrangement of menu items. Instead of taking experience into account, existing menu management mechanisms maintain a relatively rigid menu item arrangement, regardless of whether the particular arrangement makes sense in light of the historical selections that were made by the program""s user. Fixed content menus arc never rearranged, no matter how often a user selects certain items and/or ignores certain other items. On the other hand, variable content menus change only in strict sequence with the order of past user selections such that only a certain number of the most recent selections appear on the menu.
One improvement in the menu management field, at least with respect to fixed content menus, is the menu management mechanism described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,975, which issued to Blades et al., and has been assigned to International Business Machines Corporation. This menu management mechanism tracks the number of times (i.e., the frequency) that menu item is selected, and changes the relative appearance of each item (through highlighting or deletion) based on how each item""s frequency of selection compares with the other items in the menu. While the Blades mechanism does not change the actual order in which menu items are presented to the user, the mechanism does cause those items having a higher frequency of selection to be displayed more prominently.
While the Blades mechanism handles fixed content menus better than other prior art mechanisms, there is still further need for improvement. For example, there is still a need in the art for a mechanism that considers multiple heuristic factors for menu management. That is, there is still a need in the art for a mechanism that considers more that just recency, as is the case with prior art variable content menu management mechanisms; and more than just frequency, as is the case in the fixed content menu management mechanism of Blades.
Another need for improvement pertains to user control. Existing menu management mechanisms do not allow a user to choose which heuristic factors are considered or to tailor menus by instructing the menu management mechanism to maintain a certain menu item order within a given menu.
Without an improved menu management mechanism that provides comprehensive heuristic control and user control over the arrangement of menu items, users will continue to suffer from the inefficiencies of today""s menu management mechanisms.
The mechanisms of the present invention provide comprehensive menu arrangement control by providing several discrete, yet complementary, features. One feature is the automatic ranking control feature, which provides for automatic heuristic control over menu item arrangement for both fixed and variable content menus. The automatic ranking control feature of the present invention uses one or more heuristic factors to automatically control the order in which menu item are arranged on a given menu. This feature is significant because it allows the menu management mechanism of the present invention to adapt quickly as use patterns change, while still taking historical selection patterns into account. (We use the phrase heuristic factor to generically describe information about past use. Examples of heuristic factors include: frequency of selection, recency of selection, and time of day of selection.)
A second feature relates the manual menu item control. The manual control facility of the present invention allows the user to manually rank individual menu items and to manually specify a time of day during which individual menu items are to appear at or near the top of the a given menu.
A third feature of the present invention relates to automatic font size control. The automatic font size control facility of the present invention allows the user to specify a minimum font size for variable content menus. This minimum font size is then used to maximize the number of menu items that can appear in variable content menus.
A fourth feature of the present invention relates to menu initialization. The teachings of the present invention include a client-server environment wherein historical menu item arrangement information is kept and periodically updated for different types of users. The historical menu item arrangement information is then used to initialize or reset a user""s menus upon request.
A fifth feature of the present invention relates to web browser initialization. This feature, which is referred to herein as the smart load facility, allows the web browser user to choose to have the web browser automatically load a selected home-base web page after initialization (as is seen in prior art web browsers) or to have the web browser automatically load the web page that appears at the top of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) list (i.e., a QuickList in IBM WebExplorer terminology or a Book Mark list in Netscape Navigator terminology).
These and other features of the present invention are described in the following pages with reference to the below-listed drawings.